O’Brien Has Saratoga Aim For Guineas And Derby Favourite City Of Troy

Aidan O'Brien is busy preparing for what could turn out to be one of his boldest ever campaigns at Ballydoyle with plans in place for City Of Troy (Justify) to tackle the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby followed by an audacious tilt at the Travers S. on the dirt at Saratoga later this summer.

Meanwhile, dual Derby and Breeders' Cup hero Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact {Jpn}), arguably the most important older horse to have been kept in training at Ballydoyle for many years, is set to get his campaign underway in next week's Dubai Sheema Classic. 

Described by joint-owner Michael Tabor as “our Frankel” after he slammed his Dewhurst rivals last term, City Of Troy heads the Guineas and Derby betting at odds of 4-6 and 2-1 respectively.

With so much on the line for a horse who has commanded such praise, O'Brien could be forgiven for feeling the pressure. The truth couldn't be further from the case. 

Speaking at a media morning at Ballydoyle on Wednesday, O'Brien said, “I don't feel pressure at all. All we can do is our best and whatever will be will be. But he [City Of Troy] looks a bit different at the moment anyway.”

O'Brien added, “He has always been very special. He always looked a bit different–even from the time we worked him to when he ran in his maiden.  All you can do is just keep turning up and running and see what is going to happen, but he does work very differently [to anything else].

“Horses are working in very bad ground at the moment-it's deep. He shouldn't like that at all but he is just powering through it. We hope to get him to Naas on Sunday after racing. They'll all work together–him, Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), they'll all go together over seven or seven-and-a-half furlongs. The plan is to go straight to the Guineas with City Of Troy.

“If that went well, then he could go for the Derby, and if that went well, there's a chance he could go to Saratoga for the Travers Stakes. That's very possible if things go well and it will be interesting.”

O'Brien is no stranger to running top-class horses on the dirt. Johannesburg famously won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2001 while Galileo (Ire), George Washington (Ire), Henrythenavigator and Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) are some of the more established names to have tackled the Breeders' Cup Classic, albeit the latter pair's efforts came on the Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita in 2008. 

Mendelssohn came closest to delivering O'Brien and the Coolmore team a breakthrough success in the Travers when second to Catholic Boy in the 2018 edition of the race. However, City Of Troy would rank as by far the most high-profile colt that connections have pointed towards the Travers, with O'Brien putting his confidence behind last year's European Champion Two-Year-Old's ability to handle the surface on breeding.

Speaking about the reasoning behind such ambitious campaigning, he explained, “It's just to expose him, really. Obviously he's by Justify, which makes Justify very exciting for us because he should be able to do dirt as easily as he does grass. That's what makes him unique, really. “Every one of those Justifys are the same. They are long-striding and big horses. They are scopey and very genuine. They are all happy to go forward and you can't go hard enough in their races. It's going to be very exciting.”

O'Brien added, “He's done very well over the winter. He's a medium-sized horse to look at, but when you stand into him he's much bigger than you think he is, which is the sign of a very well-proportioned horse. It will be exciting.

“When John [Magnier] and the lads are thinking like that, they are not afraid to push him out there and see what he is able to do. If it went well in the Guineas, we're happy to step up to a mile and a half in the Derby and then you could come back to a mile and a quarter on the dirt at Saratoga.”

City Of Troy is likely to be O'Brien's sole runner in the Guineas while targets for Henry Longfellow, Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), River Tiber and Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) will be decided after they work at Naas this weekend. 

O'Brien said, “I'd imagine if City Of Troy goes to the Guineas, he'll go himself. River Tiber always worked very well. He wasn't right in Deauville or in the Middle Park–he wasn't one hundred per cent, so there's a good chance there's more to come from him. I think he's a miler–he's fast. I couldn't see him getting much further.

“Unquestionable could go for the French Guineas. He's done very well. He'll go to Naas on Sunday to work and he could go for a trial in France before going back for the Guineas. He could be a French Derby horse. He's not as quick as the others, so he could get a bit further.

“When we went to America with them last year, River Tiber was five lengths better than the winner. He's not rated that way, but if you put the two of them together, that is what will happen.”

O'Brien added, “Henry Longfellow could stretch out but he looks like a miler the way he's going, so how much further he'd get, I'm not sure. He could be a French Derby horse, as could Diego Velazquez–he might be more that than a Guineas horse, but he'll go with them [to Naas] as well, so it will be interesting.”

Asked for an under-the-radar three-year-old colt to follow for the campaign, O'Brien put forward Grosvenor Square (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), winner of the G3 Eyrefield S. at Leopardstown last term and no bigger than 20-1 for the Derby.

“Grosvenor Square could be a very interesting horse,” he said. “I think he'd have no problem with better ground. He's not a heavy-framed horse, he's a good mover. He'll go for a Derby trial.”

City Of Troy is not the only horse that O'Brien is exploring the idea of running on dirt this season as Dubai-bound Auguste Rodin could tackle the surface at some point this year. More immediately, races like the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and the Prince Of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot will come under consideration for the four-year-old after Meydan.

O'Brien concluded, “Auguste Rodin has another bit of work to do before he goes on Saturday, but everything looks good at the moment. It's his first run of the year but we're very happy with him.

“The plan was he goes there, then he could go to the Curragh for the Tattersalls Gold Cup and then Ascot for the Prince of Wales's.

“After that, we could have a look at a dirt race with him. We'll see how that goes. He could go to Saratoga as well. His season will be split in two really, with a busy first half and then a break. As a rule, Deep Impacts are mainly turf horses, but we were surprised how well he worked on the dirt at the Breeders' Cup-he floated over it. He has an unusual action, so it will be interesting to see.”

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Lordan Buzzing To Be Back Riding Eight Months After Horror Spill In Irish Derby

Wayne Lordan described his return to race-riding at Dundalk on Friday following an eight-month spell on the sidelines through injury as “a great feeling” and admitted to not realising how much he missed competitive action until he got the leg up aboard Navy Seal (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Patton Race.

Alas, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt could not provide Lordan with a dream return, as he trailed home last of the three runners, but Lordan's spirits could not have been dented after completing the comeback. 

The multiple Group 1 and Classic-winning rider, who has been a key cog in the Ballydoyle operation for some years now, suffered career-threatening injuries when he was unshipped from the ill-fated San Antonio (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Irish Derby last July.

That left Lordan with fractures to his legs and elbow, along with a laceration to his arm, but Cork native said he never doubted that he would make a return to the saddle during his recovery. 

He explained, “It was great to get back–a great feeling. A lot of the time spent off was purely recovery. I had a lot of tests that I needed to pass in order to get back and that takes time. 

“I had to wait to get all of the right results back and thankfully they did. The other side to it was the injury took place towards the end of the year, so my recovery was over the winter, and that made things a bit easier. It's not a crazy busy time of the year for a jockey and it made it a bit easier watching on.”

He added, “I was always confident that everything was going well. You're just waiting for the right boxes to be ticked and everyone else to be happy. I've felt good for a while now. I started back in the gym back in November.”

Lordan is one of the most decorated riders in Ireland. He cemented his relationship with O'Brien when partnering Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to victory in the 2017 1,000 Guineas. He has since been associated with top-notch horses like Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}), for whom he was at his brilliant best aboard in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and more. 

On his return, Lordan continued, “It's not until you get back race-riding that you realise how much you've missed it. I got back into Ballydoyle on January 3 and it was just a brilliant feeling to go back in there. It's a nice time of year. From finding two-year-olds, to looking forward to the three-year-olds, there's a lot of excitement in the air. Time will tell as the season goes on.”

 

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At the Senate Cafe in Heaven

Andrea Branchini provides a light-hearted response to the suggestion that the Irish Derby should be shortened, featuring an imagined conversation between two classic scholars in somewhat different fields. Yet while Cicero's questions are indeed imagined, Tesio's responses are direct quotes from his bloodstock bible Breeding the Racehorse.

Marcus Tullius Cicero: Senator Tesio, what do you think of this recent querelle started by Patrick Cooper's letter in the TDN about shortening the distance of that famous Classic race in Hibernia?

Federico Tesio: It is difficult to mathematically establish where speed ends and endurance begins. In other words, there is no specific point – a measured number of metres – where speed ends and endurance begins. It is all relative.

Cicero: What do you mean? Do you think that there is no quality difference between speed and endurance? You must know that, deep down, the whole argument about the Hibernian race is in fact about breeding for speed and/or breeding for endurance.

Tesio: Neither speed nor endurance will ever be integrally inherited because they are not integral or uniform characteristics but rather combinations of many original characteristics based on the law of probabilities.

Cicero: Yes, Senator, I understand, you are referring to those Mendel theories that you liked so much. So, in your opinion, speed and endurance are not really equivalents to the green and yellow peas used by the German abbot to explain and predict inheritance?

Tesio: Endurance does not exist in itself. It is only a variation, a step or a facet, of speed.

Cicero: Senator, please give me an example I can relate to. Think of me as you would of a simple spectator at the Circus Maximus.

Tesio: I myself have bred and trained a good horse, by the name of Bellini, with which I won the St Leger (2,800 metres) and Braune Ban (2,400 metres) in Munich, Germany. Bellini was certainly not a horse with endurance, but he had a tremendous burst of speed. If the course was not too severe and the jockey waited to push it to its best effort in the last 50 metres, then Bellini was undefeated – such was his speed in the last 50 metres. However, one metre more and he was beaten.

Cicero: Senator, are you saying that endurance – or stamina, as they call it nowadays – is just the ability to manage speed over distance?

Tesio: To win a steeplechase a horse must have speed, rather than mere endurance.

Cicero: Senator, I think you are on to something. In fact, all this makes me think of the most talented human athletes of today. Could it be that they just operate in sport markets they have found themselves in? That is: Usain Bolt chose the sprints, while the “human locomotive” Emil Zatopek opted for long distance races – but they might have excelled elsewhere no matter what. Same for football. Legendary Italian left-back Giacinto Facchetti could (and did) play as centreforward at times, and I am sure Lionel Messi would be a terrific fullback if that position was assigned to him. Not to speak of the brilliantly speed-endowed Dutch runner Sifan Hassan, who has recently triumphed in races from the mile to the marathon. You see, I watch television quite a bit here in heaven.

Tesio: Distance is nothing more than a form of manifestation of time. Aptitudes are not inherited.

Cicero: So, my dear fellow senator, is it all a dream to breed for speed?

Tesio: Nothing is certain when dealing with speed and endurance. There are only probabilities.

 

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Dear Patrick: With Respect, I Disagree

Since the publication of Patrick Cooper's letter suggesting that the Irish Derby should be shortened in distance we have had a predictably mixed response in correspondence on the subject.

You can find Cooper's letter in full here. In essence, it highlights the fortunes of two Frankel colts, the Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner and Arc runner-up Westover and the Dewhurst and 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean, both of whom raced for Juddmonte. The latter is now a Juddmonte stallion at Banstead Manor Stud, while Westover is about to embark on his first season for the Yushun Stallion Company in Japan.

It is worth pointing out that another son of Frankel, the Derby and King George winner Adayar, plus his fellow King George winner Hukum, have both also been exported to Japan. This lack of a Flat stud berth in Europe is not a problem solely affecting Irish Derby winners, though admittedly the last three winners prior to Auguste Rodin are all now at Coolmore's National Hunt division, along with another King George winner, Pyledriver.

In the cases of Westover, Adayar and Hukum, however, there are also extenuating circumstances, up to a point. It is easy to understand that neither Darley nor Juddmonte want to retire two new sons of Frankel to their stallion units for the forthcoming season. Juddmonte, after all, has the goose who lays the golden eggs, Frankel himself, while Darley has Cracksman, who has recently been joined by Triple Time. Like Chaldean, the latter is a Group 1-winning miler and therefore, in the current climate, deemed to be an easier sell to breeders. It is a depressing fact, but I can see that it makes business sense.

Hukum is of course a son of Sea The Stars and, had his full-brother Baaeed not retired to Shadwell's roster the year before him, then it is hard to imagine that homebred Hukum would have joined Adayar on the plane to Darley Japan, despite the retirement of Mostahdaf – yet another Frankel – this year.

Cooper ended his letter with the plea: “Shorten the Irish Derby.”

He is not alone in considering this the best option. John Hammond, trainer of one of the best Irish Derby winners of the modern era in Montjeu, agrees with him, and said, “I was always in favour of the Prix du Jockey Club being reduced to 2,100m, even though it wasn't unanimously popular at the time.”

The difference then though was that the shortening of the Jockey Club coincided with the extending of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris, which is also only open to three-year-olds and has been run over 2,400m since 2005 (having also been run at up to 3,100m in its history, and at 2,000m from 1987 until the most recent change).

Hammond added of the Prix du Jockey Club, “It was silly having two 2,400m Derbys so close to each other while the only 2,000m Group 1 for three-year-olds only was the Lupin which was effectively a Derby trial and frequently a weak race. The Jockey Club is a better race now and I would imagine the average field size has increased too. Everyone has a crack now, the milers, mile-and-a-quarter horses and mile-and-a-half horses. Last year a champion 2,400m horse won and a top miler was second.”

Ireland has no such option to alternate between Group 1 races for three-year-olds. If the Irish Derby is shortened the only Group 1 race beyond 10 furlongs and available to three-year-old colts would be the Irish St Leger in September, which is also open to older horses. How can Ireland pride itself on being the cradle of the Thoroughbred if this becomes the case?

Hammond is not the only supporter of Cooper's argument. Charlie Murless also got in touch to say, “I hate to say it because I grew up on the Curragh, and all my life Irish Derby Day was a very special day and a very special race. Sadly no longer, for a number of reasons (a large number!) in addition to Patrick's excellent breeding rationale. The distance must be changed.”

We can count Hammond as Irish-assimilated despite being English-born and a long-term resident of France because he spent many of his formative years in Ireland. Cooper and Murless, too, have longstanding ties to the race and feel that it must be shortened. Is that the answer though? I do not believe so, but then I live on the other side of the Irish Sea. 

Another Brit, Gerard West, contacted us with a strongly-worded email. “This would be catastrophic for Irish and European racing,” he said. 

“The very foundations of our racing are based on our variety of race distances, something that has attracted breeders from all over the world. Breeders are no longer breeding to race, they're breeding for the yearling and foal sales ring. Stallion masters are recruiting colts for that purpose too. 

“For some years now come Derby time it's not a matter of who's going to win but more a matter of who's going to stay. We not only need staying types for the Flat but National Hunt too.”

We all have a metaphorical hill on which we would die, and mine is that if it ever comes to pass that the Derby is shortened from a mile and a half I would find it hard to continue my association with racing, notwithstanding the fact that it was a mile race for its first four runnings. Of course Derby Day is now nothing like Frith's great painting of the 1850s depicting all manner of human life on the Epsom Downs. 

The painter described in his autobiography his first visit to Epsom in 1856: “My first Derby had no interest for me as a race, but as giving me the opportunity of studying life and character it is ever to be gratefully remembered. Gambling-tents and thimble-rigging, prick in the garter and the three-card trick, had not then been stopped by the police.”

Whether or not we are to be grateful that the police are now more preoccupied with animal rights protesters is a moot point, but Derby Day was always a great occasion for all walks of society. It is less so now, but in England the day and the race still feel special. 

Is that the same in Ireland? I have been at the Curragh for the Irish Derby too infrequently to know, though Alamshar's downing of Dalakhani is a race that will stay with me for as long as I retain my memory. But that was two decades ago, and straight after some truly special years of the race being won by Montjeu, Sinndar, Galileo, and High Chaparral.

If Irish Derby Day no longer feels special, surely it is the occasion that needs work as much as the race itself. The recent switching of days and times can't have helped it to retain its identity and importance for racegoers.

Since Montjeu's time the resurgence of Ballydoyle in the Aidan O'Brien years has also occurred. The trainer won his first Irish Derby in 1997 with Desert King and has claimed another 14 victories since then. Has this domination aided the race's demise, or without the support of Coolmore would it have dwindled further? It is worth noting that between 1980 and 2000, the race was won by 14 non-Irish trained horses from 11 different stables. This century, that number has been reduced to four: Hurricane Run (trained in France), and Jack Hobbs, Hurricane Lane and Westover (from Britain). A reduction in overseas challengers is certainly an issue, but then there are not too many stables beyond Ballydoyle which regularly field a runner in the Derby at Epsom either. 

There are implications beyond Ireland for the race being shortened, including what effect it may have on the Eclipse, which last year was run six days after the Irish Derby. Admittedly, in 2023, both races were won by colts from Ballydoyle who would have been kept apart anyway. In Westover's year, he would surely have won the Irish Derby had it been over 10 furlongs, but would that have increased his commercial appeal enough to have pushed Chaldean aside? I don't believe so.

We are venturing towards a situation of the tail wagging the dog. We need a balance in our breeding because we need sprinters, we need milers, we need middle-distance horses and we need stayers. That is the beauty and the allure of racing in Europe: the variety, underpinned by Classic bloodlines in order to achieve the pinnacle of producing that rare horse who has the class and turn of foot to race over a mile and a half at the top level. Don't think for a moment that that's a slow horse.

It is a self-fulfilling prophesy that if we stop standing and using Derby winners and their like at stud, then sooner or later we won't be able to breed horses to run over that range of distances. In fact, it is easy to envisage the day when horses can barely stay the mile of the Guineas. Good luck then trying to sell our racing product overseas. Why would they want to buy the same horses they can breed at home? 

The two best horses in the world last year, Equinox (Jpn) and Ace Impact (Ire), both won major Group 1 races over 10 furlongs, but it hurt neither of their careers to win over a mile and a half. In fact, the Japan Cup and the Arc were respectively their crowning glories.

Ireland has a long way to go to return its once-special race to its halcyon days but it should try, whether through a different approach to race programming for budding middle-distance colts, breeder incentives, or a significant bonus connected to the Irish Derby for horses who have won a Classic elsewhere. But whatever else happens, do not shorten the Irish Derby.

 

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